Concrete building mold



Jan. 12, 1932. c. woLFF .k'w l/A LEI' INV TOR. C Wo/.FF

Jan. 12, 1932. c. woLFF 1,841,074

CONCRETE BUILDING MOLD Filed July 23. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C Wo/FF TTORNEY.

BY A

Jan. l 12, 1932.

C. WOLFF CONCRETE BUILDING MOLD Filed July 23. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR. C Wol. FF

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 `UNITED STATES PATENT'. oFFlcE OHRISTIAAN WOIFF, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF FIFTY PER CENT TO BOOR SINGI-, F BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CONCRETE BUILDING MOLD Application led July 23,

will facilitate the building of concrete structures but also takes into Vconsideration the provision of a novel Wall construction which may be embodied in ceilings, floors, columns and other building structures.

One of the purposes of the invention is to provide a method for erecting concrete building structures of all kinds more expeditiously than is possible under present methods.

By the method and means of my invention a saving in material may be effected Without sacrificing strength andrigidity of construction, it being possible to make at less expense and more expeditiously, a three ply Concrete Wall construction Which is thermally insulated by provision of dead air spaces, and is as strong, if not stronger, than an ordinary solid Wall, with the advantages that less material is required than in ythe case of a solid Wall and provision is made for easy and inexpensive decorative finishes Without appreyciablyadding to the construction costs or requiring appreciably greater time than when plain finishes arerprovided. The mold of my invention is constructed inexpensively and such that it may be quickly and easily set up to provide building constructions of various kinds, and units of building constructions, in less time and at less expense lthan is possible with methods heretofore employed. A In carrying out the invention I employ a series of especially formed and constructed mold members which, through the employment of a novel means for attaching the mold members together and holding them in the proper relation, will provide for the formation of Walls, ceilings, floors, beams, and other concrete structural units, which units or elements will be. exceptionally strong and are capable of. being readily set up in variousdecorative finishes.

V'Another of the purposes of the invention is inold members of this invention, which means 1923. Serial No. 294,704.

provides for a saving in time, expense and labor.

With the above mentioned and' other ob.- jects in view, the invention consists in thel novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forth in the vclaims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction Within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificingany of the advantages of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l represents a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the mold apparatus of this invention shown as it Would appear when arranged to form an upright Wall, together with a floor and ceiling.

Fig. 2 represents a fragmentary vertical sectional view of' a Wall as formed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 3 represents a fragmentary vertical section of a Wall constructed in accordance With the invention and as When having a plaster surface or finish.

Fig. 4 represents a fragmentary horizontal sectional view showing the mold as arranged when forming tWo Walls joined and extending at right angles to one another, this view also showing the privision for different decorative finishes. p

Fig. 5 represents a front elevation of the mold apparatus of the invention as shown in connection With a fragment of the Wall.

Fig. 6 represents a front elevation of a fragment of the mold apparatus with means for holding the molds assembled.

Fig. 7 represents a cross sectional view of A one of the molds of the invention.

' Fig. 8 represents a fragmentary viev in front elevation of a'wall finished in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 9 represents a top plan View of one of the elements used in assembling the mold.

Fig.. 10 represents a top plan view of another element used in connection with the one shown in Fig. 9. Y

Fig. 11 is a. top plan viev7 yof one ofthe plates for ,holding the mold members assembled. l

The mold apparatus of this invention consists primarily in a plurality of mold members which are formed of cast iron or other suitablefmaterial, preferably material which is rust proof Yor treated so as to be rust proof, which mold members are arranged in the form necessary to produce floors, Walls, columns, ceilings and the like7 which mold memished vvall without appreciably adding to the expense of molds or expense of assembling them in the proper form. The mold members and the means employed for holding them assembled are constructed in a permanent nature so that they may be used time after time and assembled in various ways to produce different vkinds of Walls and concrete building structures.

-IReferringparticularly to the embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings I shall first describe the mold of which a plurality arel employed ink carrying out this invention. The Vmold members Yare designated land eachis in the form of a substantially rectangular receptacle having a bottom-walll and four sidewalls 3, all' formed integral with one another and arcorners.

ranged so that the mold is of less diameter at the closed side than the open side. ln other Words the mold is of substantially ,pyramidal form or shape and preferably constructed'of cast iron but 'may be made of any material which is rust proof or'which may be treated so as to be rust proof. Interiorly of each mold member are a plurality of bosses 4 which have screw threaded openings 5 therein, these bosses being located adjacent the In this connection it will be noted thatthe molds are cut away or beveled as at Gat the corners thereof for a purpose which Ywill be later more fully described, :athough if desired the mold members may be formed with right angular corners. By forming the outer surfaces of the walls' of the vmold with groovesindicated at 7 provision is made for a series'of shoulder-like ribs or beadsin the i finished concrete construction and not only is 'the structure made stronger by these vbeadlilre constructions but thebeads facilitate the supporting of inlaid finishing piecessuch as slate, v tile or plate-like members.l These grooves are Vparallel and extend lengthwise of the VWalls 3 of the mold. 'r i Y To make the forms of the concrete structure with the molds of this invention, a plurality of mold members arranged in columns or rows are assembled as shown in detail in the accompanying drawings, particularly, however, by means of series of assembling plates 8. These plates are square or substantially square and constructed of any suitable metal, and each is adapted for connection with four of the mold members. Bolts 9 are inserted through openings l0 located near the corners of the plates 8 and said bolts are turned in the threaded openings 5 of the bosses e on the mold members. The plates are so arrangedthat the mold members will be supported in such properly spaced relation to one another as to'permitv of expansion and contraction of the mold members when set up to provide la form. The platesl are also spaced from one another so as to take care of the expansion and contraction thereof. The heads of the bolts 9v are of smaller diameter vhan the openings l() in the plates 8 to facilitate a quick assemblingand disassembling andthis requires the use of i,iembers which will serve as washers as Will be later described. Each plate is provided With a diamond shaped central opening 11 which is in registration with the diamond shaped space provided between each four mold members at the corners thereof, the beveling of the corners of the mold members providing this space. g Y l Y A plurality lof cap members l2 are mounted in the openings l1 vand project outward be# yond the plates 8, there being flanges 13 which engage the inner sides ofthe plates so as to hold these caps in place. kvThecaps vl2 serve to extend the spacebetween the molds at the corners of the mold members and form projections in the concrete structure provided by the mold apparatus of the invention. If desired, however, these plates may be unbroken so as to provide a smooth wall surface instead Y of projections. lnteriorly of the cap-like projections are oppositely beveled membersll forming beveled or more or less pointedV ends, onthe projections in the finished wall. By placing differently shaped members la inside of the cap, various decorative effects may be producedk in the outer ends of the projections. These projections may be utilized in various ways in Wallsand ceil- -ings not only as ornamentaly projections but ings 16 adapted to receive the heads of the bolts 9, the smaller portions of said openings preventingV the heads of the bolts from pull ing through the key hole openings and through the openings and servingto hold the plates 8 upon the bolts in Vsuch manner thata quick disassembling of the apparatus maybe had. The upper ends of these bracket arms are bifurcated as at 17 and adapted to receive horizontal bracket members 18, the outer ends of which are notched on opposite sides as at 19 to cooperate with the bifurcations 17. The bracket arms 18 are provided with right angu'larly bent terminals 2O which have key hole openings therein through which the bolts 9 extend.Y The brackets provided by the members and 18 are in this way detachably set up and connected with the plates and provide. for supporting the scaffold bars 21, these bars being rested on the horizontal pieces 18. The bars 21 may be formed of any suitable metal and serve as scaffolding also to hold the forms properly assembled and against buckling out of align ment. The upper ends ofthe members 15 act as abutments for the bars 21 and the cap projections 12 are engaged by the inner sides of the bars,tl1ereby providing asnug seat for said bars and'holding them in place on the brackets. Comparatively few plates 8 and their associated parts are necessary to set up afornr comprising a comparatively greater Y spaced structures made up of seriesv of mold' number of mold members 1. Y As shown in Figs. 1, 4; and 5, these members are set up to provide forms for making walls,

ceilings and floors. The construction of the mold members and the special means of this 'invention for assembling them to .provide a mold form, permitof much quicker assembling than is possible with other types of mold apparatus for making concrete structures. The connections between the plates 8 and the mold members facilitate an easy and quick assembling and taking down of the form without damage to the mold'members and their associated parts and thus these mold parts may be used repeatedly and in being constructed of metal will last for long periods of time.

lAsshown in Fig. 1, the mold elements of my invention are set up to provide a wall joined with a floor and ceiling, only half of the ceiling and floor arrangement of mold ap paratus being shown. Y

In Fig. 4 the arrangement of the mold ap paratus is for forming right angularlyeX- tending Walls which are integral and provide acorner.

With the mold apparatus set up as shown in Fig. 1, the concrete is poured into the space between the forms, which forms compose members of this invention attached together in each Yseries as hereinbefore described. The

concrete passes into the spaces between the molds and into the caplike extension spaces provided by thecaps y12.

To disassemble the forms the bars 21 are removed from the brackets, then the arms 15 are moved downward to bring the larger por-y tions of the openings 16 into registration with the heads of the bolts 9, following which said arms may be readily removed. The members 18 are disconnected from the bolts v9 in a similar manner and theplates 8 can then be moved off of the bolts 9, which bolts will remain attached to the mold members and the mold members may be taken out and placed to one side. The outer surfaces of the concrete wall` appear as shown in Fig. 8, being a series of rows of spaced depressions, which depressions, are provided between intersecting horizontal and vertical rib portions B. These rib portions B are beveled, that is, are narrower at their outer edges and gradually increasefin width towards the bottom of the depressions A. The faces'fof the ribs l5 forming the Walls of the depressions A are provided with a seriesof rib-like projections rC, whichlend strength to the structure and provide for supporting tiles and the like as will be later more fully described, as well as serving as decorative members. f

lVith the wall or-structure formed in this manner, it is possible toreadily and easily. provide a three Aply wall and this may be done either asshown in Fig. 2, or as shown in Fig. 3.v In Fig. there is shown but one half of the wall, the omitted half beingthe same as that shown. In thisform of the invention, plates 2:2 of slate or other materialare placed in the depressions A so as to rest upon certain of the rib members C. These plates leave an air space in the inner ends of the depressi-ons. Next tile pieces 23 of any suitable color, dee sign or material are placed in the outer ends of the 'depressions A so that their outer faces may be disposed substantially fiush with the outer ends of the ribs B, said tile pieces being held in place by a layer of cement indicatedr at 24. 'By this simple arrangement, the wall will be provided with a series of dead airV spaces on opposite sides of the center core of solid concrete but will have the appearance of a solid concrete wall. By this arrangement a greatdeal of saving in material may be had without sacrificing strength and with the advantage of providing thermal insulation `by reason of the air spaces on opposite lsides of this central solid core of the wall.

In ig. 8 I4 have shown half ofa wall constructed in accordance with the invention having a plaster linish on its outer surfaces.` ln this form of the invention a plurality of airvpocket forming plates 25 similar to the plates 22 are placed in the outer ends of the depressions so as'toseal said depressions, and plaster or other cementitious surface coating `indicated at 26 yis applied to these plates 25, Vthusgiving a smooth plaster fin- Y ply, the outer surfacing constituting the maf terial 26 and plates 25, as the second ply,

the solid center core, and third, the similar plates andv coating 26 on the other side of the wall, this side being omitted inF ig. 3. lfVhen the plaster finish is to be had as shown in Fig. 3 ring 'members 27 are mounted in the caps 12 toform shoulders 28 on the projections of the concrete molded in the caps l2, the plates 25 are rested on these shoulders as shown in Fig. 3. Thus vthe plaster coating may be extended over the outer ends of the projections formed by the caps l2.

. Instead of bracket arms l5 I may Yemploy washer members 28 for cooperation with the heads'of the bolts 9 for the purpose of holding the plates and mold members assembled, there being key hole openings in thesewashers 28, thewashers being shown iny Fig. 5.

As shown in'Fig. t, the decorative features .of the walls or structures Ymay be provided by placing decorative .tile plates or sheets indic'ated by the numerals 29 and 30 at the inner ends of the mold membersso that when the mold members are removed, these plates Vwill be embedded in the wall in part, but for the most part willbe revealed at the inner ends ofthe depressions A which are formed byrthe mold members.` In the arrangement ofthe mold apparatus shown in Fig. 4, to provide a corner, a special corner molding l piece 31 is employed in conjunction with the provide other concrete structural unit-s.

mold. members, said corner molds 31. being attached in any suitable manner to the mold members and platestherefor. The -plates29 and 30 may be attached to the mold by fastenings. extending Vthrough the bottom wall of thermold members, which fastenings are not shown but Vmay be of any suitable kind.

While I have shown the mold apparatus vset up toV provide two different building structural units,`it is obvious that the mold 'apparatus may be set up in various ways to of the main advantages of the mold apparatus of this invention is that it may be` quickly and easily set up tov providea new type of concrete Wall 'construction and is easily taken down, the use of the apparatus providing for a saving inmaterial and expense in constructing concrete structures. Afurther advantage is the provision for repeated use of the mold apparatus to make various lkinds of l. structures changing f of the construction of the mold apparatus. A transverse plate 33 is shown in Fig. 4, supported by bolts 9, to illustrate the provision maderfor window and door `f openings. The transverse plates 33 extend One without necessitating the" shape of the desired window or door open ing. Thus, an entire building mold may be built, with door and window openings in their proper places, and the concrete is readily poured in one operation for the entire building.v .The plates 33 are readily removed after the -molds and the Vbolts 9 aredisasseinbled. The plates 33 when in place, also serve as a reinforcement for the mold structure to further strengthen the same against lateral spreading.

Itis to be noted that when the molds for the side walls are assembled above the iioor or ceiling moldsY at the juncture 3d of said walls, a comparatively large space is provided, so as to increase the strength of the wall structure, by the larger mass or concrete molded at said juncture.

members for detachably connecting the plates and said mold members, said mold members being of rectilinear outline ywith the corners thereof cutaway providing a nioldf space Y, between each group of fourmold members at the cutaway corners thereof ,and inverted caplike members attachedto'and extending outwardly from the plates and in registration withthe moldV space provided between the corners of the mold members.

2. Mold apparatus for concrete structures comprising opposed spaced wall yforms each comprising a plurality of rows of spaced mold members of rectilinear outline, a plurality of mold connecting plates each of which plates isl connected with four of said mold members, means for detachably con necting'the plates with the mold members, said plates vhaving openings therein, which openingsregister with the spaces provided between the cornersV of each group' oi' four mold members and caplike members mounted in the` openings of the platesand extending outwardly from the plates to provide extensions ofthe spaces between the corners of the mold members.l

3. Mold apparatus for concrete structures comprising opposed spaced wall forms each eomprisingva plurality of rows of spaced mold membersof rectilinearoutline, a plurality of mold connecting plates veach of which plates isconnected with four of said mold members, means for detachably connecting the Aplates with the` mold members,

said plates having openings therein, which ii;

openings register with the spaces provided between the corners of each group of four mold members, cap-like members mounted in the openings of the plates and extending outwardly from the plates to provide extensions of the spaces between the corners of the mold members, and a plurality of horizontally disposed bars supported on each horizontal row of said plates.

4; Apparatus for molding concrete strucv tures comprising spaced opposed forms each composed of a plurality of mold members arranged in spaced relation to one another in rows, which rows extend vertically and horizontally and are spaced from one another, each of said mold members being in the form of a receptacle having their convex sides opposed, bolts secured interiorly of each mold member and projecting outwardly from the open sides of the mold members, a plurality of assembly plates provided with openings therein, the diameters of which openings are greater than the diameter of the heads of the bolts and through which openings the bolt heads extend with the plates engaging the outer sides of the mold members, each plate being secured to a group of :tour mold members and means engaged upon the bolts for detachably securing the plates to said mold members.

5. Apparatus for molding concrete structures comprising spaced opposed forms each composed of a plurality of mold members arranged in spaced relation to one another in rows, which rows extend vertically and horizontally and are spaced from one another, each of said mold members being in the form of a receptacle having their convex sides opposed, bolts secured interiorly yof each mold member and projecting outwardly from the open sides ofthe mold members, a plurality of assembly plates provided with openings therein, the diameters of which openings are greater than the diameter of the heads of the bolts and through which openings the bolt heads extend with the plates engaging the outer sides of the mold members, each plate being secured to a group of four mold members and means engaged upon the bolts for detachably securing the plates to said mold members, which means includes brackets and bars supported horizontally on said brackets.

CHRISTIAAN WOLFF. 

